Eastern Recalling Attendants

Eastern Airlines, following successful contract negotiations, is sending recall notices to 1,010 flight attendants it furloughed on Feb. 4, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

The furloughed attendants are being told to report back to work on April 1, said Glenn Parsons, Eastern`s director of public relations.

But 275 of the furloughed attendants have already found new work or indicated they don`t want to be recalled. To replace those workers, Eastern will begin training an additional 300 flight attendants on April 21, Parsons said.

Eastern announced a cutback in its flight attendant workforce to 6,200 on Jan. 20, when it imposed a new contract containing new work rules on the Transport Workers Union Local 553, which represents attendants at Eastern.

But a new contract signed last week with Eastern`s 4,200 pilots will allow the Miami airline to expand its service, Parsons said. ``We expect to be a 6 percent larger airline for the balance of 1986, and we will be needing more flight attendants,`` Parsons said.

Eastern also reached a negotiated contract with the TWU last week, which is scheduled to replace the Jan. 20 contract, if it is ratified by rank and file members in about a month.

Parsons said it is unclear whether the recall would proceed if union members turn down the contract.

Last Friday, after the contract was reached, Eastern President Joe Leonard said ``a significant number`` of attendants would return to work in April and May, with most recalled by this fall.

On Wednesday, in a prepared statement, Leonard said all attendants will now be recalled on April 1.

In a related development, a TWU spokesman said Eastern has agreed to pay back about 6 percent of the 18 percent withheld from flight attendant paychecks during 1985. The agreement is part of the contract settlement reached late last week.

The union had sued to recover about $33 million in these back wages, but dropped its suit as part of the contract settlement. Eastern, however, will pay 6 percent - or about $11.5 million - in back wages, and $250,000 in union legal expenses, said union spokeswoman Gail Nicholson.

Federal Judge Eugene Spellman, who tried the suit in February, has a judgment ready, but has not announced it yet, Parsons said. The decision will be made public, and will be binding, only if the contract is not ratified, Parsons said.